It's You
by PuertoRicanBelle
Summary: A winter spirit doesn't belong in the desert. But Jack decides to take a stroll to admire the flora and the fauna when he encounters an unexpectedly familiar face.


**Please note this is a sort of prequel to my other Rise of the Guardians fic "I Threw My Heart Into The Fire". Which you can read on my profile**

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It wasn't often Jack visited the southwestern United States; for good reason obviously. Scorching hot regardless of the time of year, even during the winter. But he was desperately curious to brave the heat and check out what was going on there. Akilina recommended he go during the night time when it was cooler and more tolerable for him.

And so he did. He landed on a bare patch of gritty sand just as the sun finished dipping beyond the horizon, the sky around the setting rays brilliant citrus orange and red, with tendrils of violet and navy blue reaching down from above, dotted with stars.

The moon would soon be out, but Jack wasn't in the mood to badger about his purpose this evening. So, he took a walk, grazing his staff over the desert flora, covering them in a thin layer of frost. Looking to the northwest, he saw the towering mountains up ahead, nothing but black silhouettes against the darkening sky.

Despite the turn of the 20th fast approaching, he hadn't spied any settler towns anywhere, and perhaps that was good, he knew of the natives and their spirits. They weren't to be trifled with.

The night was peaceful, in the distance, he heard what he assumed to be coyotes howling and yelping at one another in a rather large pack. Up ahead, he saw a group of jackrabbits scatter into the brush upon him approaching them. Except for one, one lone jackrabbit that sat in place, glaring at Jack with its piercing eye that almost glowed red in the faint light. He playfully shot a small blast of ice in its direction and it finally scampered off.

With a chuckle, he flew forward, seeing what was going on. He was surprised at the animals that were out and about during the night. He didn't realize he said this out loud until he heard someone behind him reply with.

"It's too hot during the day, the night is when the desert comes to life." He spun around, holding his staff out for defense. On a large rock behind him, a girl sat atop. Dark skin, dark brown hair streaked with gold, a pure cotton white, one-shouldered dress with gold and teal embroidery that seemed to glow in the moonlight, and the fiercest golden eyes he'd ever seen.

She chuckled upon his response to her answer and she slid down the rock with ease and stopped a few feet in front of him.

"Who're you?" She raised an eyebrow.

"What is a winter spirit doing in the desert?" He pointed his staff closer to her, to which she just pushed out of the way with an annoyed look on her face.

The two paused and looked at each other. Jack was taken aback by, frankly, how pretty she was. She must've noticed him staring because out of nowhere, she flared up her hand with fire.

Jack yelped and nearly tripped falling backward.

"What the-! You-" She rolled her eyes and the fire vanished.

"Never met a fire spirit before?" He stared at her, more in shock this time.

"No… I haven't."

"What're you doing here?" She asked, in a more demanding tone this time.

"I was just passing through, out of curiosity…" He paused, "I've never been to the desert before. I didn't intend to trespass." He really hoped he didn't have to fight her, fire and ice got real weird when fighting against each other. She sighed and appeared to visibly relax.

"What's your name?" She asked. Jack relaxed too and lowered his staff.

"Jack Frost. And yours?" She blinked in surprise, crossing her arms.

"The Winter Trickster, eh? Well, my name is Catori." Jack was about to make a snarky remark when he froze, no pun intended. He studied her features again, thinking back to a little over 20 years ago. The last time he passed through the desert, 1872. He remembered a girl; the only daughter of a Hopi chief. He saw her reading books on a cliff, overlooking the Grand Canyon at the time. He didn't know too much about her, but he knew she was fierce, headstrong, and perhaps a little stubborn, wanting to live by her own rules. He remembered her face. Soft, high cheekbones, full lips, slender body.

He looked at Catori again, who looked incredibly confused. Her features were a perfect match, save for the hair and the eye color.

"Oh my god…" He gasped out.

"What?"

"Man in Moon… it's… it's you!" She blinked.

"I- what?"

"It's you! I remember you! I remember you as a human! Holy- you died? And you were brought back? This is- this is insane!" Catori was absolutely bewildered by Jack's outburst.

"What on earth are you talking about?" He gripped her arms and grinned, their eyes finally meeting.

"The last time I came through here was 20 years ago, and you were still human then, and now… here you are… brought back from the dead…" A million questions ran through his head. What had happened to her that caused her death? What had she been doing since then? Did she have any friends? Did Man in Moon talk to her?

Catori was just speechless. She didn't really know how to respond to any of this. He wasn't the first spirit she had met. She already knew Akilina, Eshe, and Heath, the two latter never mentioned a winter spirit.

"Eshe and Heath never mentioned there was a winter spirit, and that it's you." She commented. Jack blinked.

"Wait, you know them too?" Catori nodded.

"Yes?" Jack was practically bouncing, he was so happy. Not only did this beautiful girl he saw 20 years ago become a spirit, but they had the same friends! He bounced around her in a circle.

"Man I don't know about you, but this is amazing! I never thought I'd see you again, but yet, here we both are!" Jack seemed to forget that Catori had never met him prior to this, she was kind of flattered, but still really confused.

"Look. This is really flattering and all, but, I've only been immortal for a little over 20 years, I don't know too many spirits and I kinda want to keep it that way." She held up her hands in a defensive way and frowned. Jack's face fell.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"I had a traumatic death, and I'm not really a social person so… it was nice to… formally meet you I guess, but I should go-" She turned on her heel to leave when Jack flew up and hovered above her.

"What're you talking about? You don't want a new friend?" He was asking more or less for himself, he didn't have a lot of friends, and he felt really lonely since he didn't see his fellow seasonal spirits very often. She rolled her eyes at him, jumping over a small creekbed.

"No, I don't."

"Will you change your mind?" She eyed him through her peripheral vision, starting to become rather annoyed at his persistence.

"Buzz off. I mean it."

"Oh come on, Catori, we all need a new friend-" He was cut off by a sudden burning hot sensation to his abdomen. He was blasted onto his back, and his sweatshirt was steaming. Sitting up and looking ahead, Catori put out her flaming hand as she glared at him, her golden eyes almost looked like they were on fire.

"I told you I didn't want any more friends, and I certainly don't want to be friends with a polar opposite. Now get out or I won't hesitate to actually burn you this time, am I clear?" Definitely frightened, Jack picked up his staff and took off into the night. He couldn't decide if he was terrified, or weirdly enough; aroused.

She was still beautiful, despite the new edge. But he couldn't understand why she wouldn't want a new friend to be with. Immortality could be incredibly lonely, as Jack was well aware of. Sure, he had Akilina, Eshe, and Heath… but they were just three spirits, and Jack was a social person, he wanted to meet people.

He just hoped that in time, Catori would eventually change her mind.


End file.
